Seeing a picture of the rollercoaster he’d ridden as a kid swept off a pier and into the ocean made it all a little more real for Virginia Tech tight end Ryan Malleck. Then again, he’d already had his share of scares associated with Hurricane Sandy and the devastation it caused his hometown of Point Pleasant, N.J.

When the hurricane first made landfall Oct. 30 on the coast of New Jersey, Malleck waited patiently to hear back from his mother. He got scared when the day passed and he didn’t make contact with her. He didn’t hear from her until Halloween day, but fortunately, she was fine and the family home was OK.

The same couldn’t be said of the rest of Point Pleasant.

“My house is fine, but most of my town is under water,” said Malleck on Tuesday afternoon. “A few of my friends that live on lagoons and by canals, their first floor is under water. Actually, (on Wednesday), they’re supposed to get another nor’easter I think, like high winds and rain, but I don’t think as bad (as the hurricane).”

Malleck, a 6-foot-4, 244-pound sophomore who will help lead Tech on Thursday night against No. 8 Florida State (8-1 overall, 5-1 ACC), said his parents got power restored Monday after not having it for nearly a week. With so much going on in his life hundreds of miles away, Malleck could’ve been excused if he wasn’t exactly engaged last Thursday night in Tech’s 30-12 loss to Miami.

Instead, he ended up having the best game of his career to this point. He finished with four catches for 58 yards, which were game-highs in both categories.

“I approach every game the same,” said Malleck regarding whether he played the game with any added motivation.

Malleck, who has started five games this season, hasn’t been the biggest factor in Tech’s passing game, but he had a sense he might have an opportunity to make some noise against Miami.

Malleck said quarterback Logan Thomas indicated Miami’s weakness in terms of pass defense was covering crossing routes. Malleck was able to find some open space and took advantage of it.

Just like the rest of teammates, he’s short on answers regarding why Tech (4-5, 2-3) continues to struggle to put points on the scoreboard, even though it’s racking up a fair amount of yards. Tech posted 421 yards against Miami, but scored just six points (two field goals) on four trips inside the red zone.

“It’s hard because we put together such great drives, our defense played well with those three-and-outs,” Malleck said. “It’s hard when you can’t (convert) fourth downs and not making extra points or field goals. It hurts us. I mean, driving the ball and getting a lot of yards, it sucks when you can’t get any points out of it.”

Tech is seventh in the ACC in terms of scoring percentage (82.1) on trips inside the red zone, but only two teams (Boston College and Maryland) have scored fewer than Tech’s 15 touchdowns inside the red zone. Getting inside the opponents’ 20-yard line has been an issue in the first place for Tech, which has had just 28 red zone trips, fourth-fewest among ACC teams.

Now, Tech is preparing for an FSU defense that has surrendered fewer trips inside the red zone (19) than any other team in the ACC. FSU is fifth in the conference in red zone scoring defensive percentage (78.9), but it has given up fewer touchdowns (10) on those trips inside the 20 than any other team in the conference.

If playing for his hometown doesn't get him hyped up enough, Malleck also realizes the importance of a win getting Tech a little closer to bowl eligibility for a 20th consecutive season.

“It’s a huge game for us to bounce back from the loss against Miami,” Malleck said. “I thought we’ve had a great week of practice so far, and I think we’re ready to play them. We’re ready to go.”